Category: Social Media & Management

The “Twitterverse” is awash in corporate brands publishing inappropriate, insensitive and/or irrelevant tweets. As of this writing, the latest corporate Twitter embarrassment happened to DiGiorno Pizza, a U.S.-based frozen pizza brand owned by Nestlé. Someone on the DiGiorno social media team jumped on the hashtag #WhyIStayed—used in discussions about domestic abuse—responding most unfortunately: “You had pizza.” While the team quickly deleted the tweet and apologized, the error was very public—and, as with most Twitter gaffes, highlighted a recurring problem with Twitter: a corporate brand’s social media team ignoring context.

One common response to any social media gaffe is to assume the brand’s social media team is comprised of interns or millennials—those “digital native” workers who grew up with texting, tweeting, and posting to Facebook walls. In many cases, that assumption is correct. Those newer workers often lack the business experience and leadership skills necessary to maintain and promote an on-brand, relevant, and appropriate social presence.

The answer? Education. Millennials should learn, adopt, and cultivate key leadership practices in an effort to become savvier business professionals. In the article, “In Praise of the Incomplete Leader,” MIT Sloan Professor Deborah Ancona presents the four leadership capabilities all organizations require: sensemaking, relating, visioning, and inventing. While all these skills are extremely valuable, the skill of sensemaking is the most relevant to those professionals working in social media.

The success of recommendation and review websites and applications such as Yelp and TripAdvisor are undeniable. As of the end of July 2014, Yelp had a cumulative 61 million reviews. These reviews are quite powerful: studies have found that 88% of consumers trust them. Surprisingly, the vast majority of reviews on Yelp receive four or five stars (out of five).

But mention Yelp to a chef or restaurateur, and their reaction is likely to be much less positive. One of the issues is that of “cyber-shilling,” where consumers are paid to write reviews—positive or negative. And there have long been rumors and anecdotes of Yelp forcing businesses to pay to suppress negative reviews; this accusation has come up again in a recent shareholder lawsuit against Yelp. The outrage amongst the hospitality community in particular is so strong that a group of French restaurateurs and hoteliers is petitioning France’s Minister of Commerce to effectively ban all defamatory reviews.

Politics is a pursuit inherently built on customer service but without enough attention paid to those who matter the most: voters. In politics, voters are the customers, and instead of asking for a refund or an exchange, they can vote the politician out of office.

So why isn’t voter relations one of the top priorities of a campaign? Campaigns should hire a Chief Voter Relations Officer to manage voter relations and develop an organization that is always striving for perfection. In that way, the organization would be actively embracing customer service as an asset, not a chore.

Posted by MIT Sloan Executive Education - 1 year and 2 months and 26 days ago

In the aftermath of whistleblower Edward Snowden and the ongoing press coverage of the National Security Association’s (NSA) clandestine surveillance program, the political ramifications of all of the above remain uncertain. What is apparent, however, is the immediate, collective increase in awareness of just how much data we “give away” every day online, and how that data is used by organizations—government and business alike—for their benefit.

Password Changed

Review this Program

You need to have taken this course in order to write a review.

Your Email Has Been Sent

Submitted For Approval

Your Comment has been submitted for approval.

Course Details

MIT Sloan Alumni Discount

To take advantage of your discount, enter the Referral Code ALUM20 on your application form. Discount is valid on all MIT Sloan Executive Education open enrollment programs held in Massachusetts and cannot be combined with any other discount.

Contact MIT Sloan Executive Education

Thank you for contacting MIT Sloan Executive Education. We will respond shortly.